WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said on Thursday that one U.S. service member had died of injuries suffered on Wednesday.
The U.S. service member was wounded during a partnered operation with U.S. and Afghan Forces in Eastern Afghanistan aimed at reducing the extremist group Islamic State's presence in Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon statement.
The casualty comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is mulling over increasing U.S. troops there.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama had planned to reduce the current number of 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to some 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when his presidency came to an end.
However, given the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the Obama administration repeatedly postponed the withdrawal.
Currently, there are about 8,400 U.S. troops and another 5,000 forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the ground in Afghanistan to train and assist the Afghan forces against the Taliban, and conduct counter-terrorism missions.
The new casualty also comes at a time when senior U.S. officials warned of a dire security situation in Afghanistan.
In a congressional hearing in June, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that the United States was still "not winning" the longest war in U.S. history in Afghanistan.
U.S. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats also warned in May that the security situation in Afghanistan would most likely deteriorate in the future even if the United States and its allies offer more military aid.
